Neku's Wings
by DJ Shion
Summary: When Neku dies once more, he is faced with the option to reincarnate. When he chooses to become a reaper, his stability wavers as he must confront his friends once again at Hachiko.
1. Chapter 1

There's a problem first with the time I'm submitting this story.

1. I have no time at all to work on this as of yet so I don't know what I'm doing.  
2. The World Ends With You is very ambiguous when it comes to certain issues (Like deaths and the end-game results).  
3. Neku might seem OOC but only because I'm going on the fact that he has a tendency to change his style (Works when you've been in Shibuya since you were born. Even Eiji Oji tells him to get trendy).  
4. Secret reports are a *itch to read. Simply because it seems as if they're in no particular order. Hanekoma sucks (though I think he's cool).  
5. Adding Arakawa (sorry he'll show up later in this chapter) is a bit of a gamble so I want to know if it was a good idea.

In anycase, The World Ends With You doesn't belong to me, but to Square Enix and Jupiter.

_

* * *

Same streets. Same crowds too. Yeah, Shibuya hasn't changed a bit. But still, I don't think I can forgive you yet. _

_You don't see it, but, those few weeks were very hard for me. Learning to trust people, and having that trust broken. Finding out the town I pegged as small and stifling and empty, wasn't any of those things._

_*_

Last day. It's been a hell of a ride. What the hell is up with this game? First that reaper shows up on day three and gives me a keypin, getting himself erased in the process, second my partner is a wacked out pyromaniac, and the missions are piss easy. Who comes up with these anyway, a three year old? Seriously, "Defeat the noise at Hachiko" can not be qualified as a hard mission. Especially for someone like Mr. Pyro. Admittedly it's pretty effective, his fire, but sheesh, the moment his fire's out he goes batshit loony and runs around till his noise disappear. At least it's the last day.

"Defeat all noise in the Scramble. Reapers are now able to directly confront players. Time is thirty minutes. Failure will result in immediate dispatch."

Hmph. Here's something new. I wonder how he'll do against reapers. Though I hope we don't run into PInky and Lollipop.

"Oi Neku! Time to fry some noise!"  
"Yeah yeah." Hope this is it.

"Come and get it!"

*

"Ah Neku. It's been a while has it not?"  
"Hm, yeah it has."  
"What, you know this guy?"

Neku stood in the white room, with the surviving players, all facing the centre where the Conductor stood. Eyes were on Neku when he was addressed, making him hop lightly on each foot.

"I thought you were erased."  
"So did I, but the Composer has very graciously returned to me my life. Also he has returned the lives of most of the reapers that were erased by Konishi. Ahh, what a waste of good talent she was."  
"I noticed, since 777 is going International." Eyes widened at the mention of 777. Some of the players shuffled closer to listen, others were impatient for the outcome of the Reaper's Game. Kitaniji Megumi noticed the disgruntled looks on some of the player's faces, waiting for him to address them. He gave Neku a slight nod, and looked up at the small crowd.

"You are all winners of the Reaper's Game and are hereby granted these things: Reincarnation into the living world, or to join with us reapers to play the next game. Otherwise you will be broken down into Soul, and being 'erased' from the UG." He watched as murmurs began to stir among the people, most of which were about being reincarnated into the RG. Happy exclamations emerged from the crowd, and partners were chatting mostly about the shock of returning to the people they cared about. He also noticed the few people who chose to stay away from the crowd and even their game partners. He smirked as he knew those who strayed would be erased. One person he found particularly intriguing was Sakuraba Neku. His eyes trailed downward to his feet, and his hands were shuffling around in his pockets. He couldn't read the boy's face. Time would tell what the outcome is.

"Those of you, who wish to become Soul, step forward." He counted nine, two of them partners. "A shame. A few of you had incredible Imagination." He watched their faces, unchanging from the praise. "Won't any of you consider becoming reapers?" None moved. "Very well. At the very least, some of your Imagination will become imbued into future players." There was a collective gasp as the nine were whisked by Megumi's hand into the air. Neku stayed his gaze at his feet.

"Those of you who wish to become reincarnated step forward." This brought a reaction from Neku. His feet shifted slightly and he looked up at Megumi. Twenty two people stepped forward and to the Conductor's surprise, Neku did not. They stared at each other for a minute and the determined gaze the boy was giving frightened Megumi slightly. "The rest of you will remain here while I take these people to the Composer for their reconstruction of Soul."

Megumi summoned a door and stepped through, the twenty two people following in his wake, never looking back. They knew what the reapers were, and why those players would become that which tried to kill them was beyond their understanding. The last stepped through and the door closed, leaving the remaining thirteen in the white room, awaiting their instatement as reapers.

Neku looked around. His partner had chosen to become Soul, and from this he assumed the boy hated his RG life. He might've done well in the reaper ranks as Megumi stated but Neku knew him. At least, knew him as much as a week of fighting together would allow. He wasn't a mean person. He was slightly crazy, but he didn't want to kill anyone. Spending a week with a stranger is something no one wants to do, but they had to do it. Neku learned about him and trusted the boy, and was sad to see him become erased like that. He looked at the twelve people around him. Most were in their twenties, and one looked to be in middle school. He knew what he should do, and walked up to one group of them.

"Why do you want to be reapers?" He asked them, hands fidgeting in his pockets.  
"Cause we got nothin' better to do in the RG. It's boring shit."  
"Yeah, guess you're right…" The conversation effectively ended there, seeing as how they returned to their own conversations about the best kind of attacks they'd use against future players. Neku walked off in a random direction, not wanting to talk any longer.

"Oi you, Orange."

Neku turned to the voice and met with the person he sized up as a middle school student. Frowning, he walked up to him.

"What?" His answer coming out as if ordering a command.  
"Let's duel."

The boy smirked, which looked slightly odd as he was very short. Neku took a step backward. A runt just asked to duel him; fourth time playing the game and Pin Psyche Master.

"You gotta be kidding me." He stared at the boy for a few minutes, both sizing up each other's strengths and weaknesses as far as their eyes could tell. Then, Neku changed the atmosphere, quite literally. The white room changed into the streets and he took his hands out of his pockets. Held in his hands were six pins, Excalibur, Her Royal Highness, Visionary Blend, and the CAT combo. Smiling ever so slightly, he stood ready, watching his opponent. The boy dug in his own pockets and pulled out three pins; Yoshimitsu, Izanagi and Zantetsu.

"So you like J of the M do you? Nice pins they have."  
"Yeah, wish I could use the Gatito ones though." The boy eyed Neku's CAT combo. Despite having one attack pin, he knew how much damage that one could do. The recharge time would be reduced because of his CAT combo and judging from the Her Royal Highness pin, he could use it a lot more too. It was going to be a long battle. Crouching slightly, he took up a stance that allowed him to gain the fastest attainable speed from the added force of the springboard movement. Both legs were bent and one hand ready to push off the ground to add to his extra speed.

"My name's Arakawa. No last name."

"Sakuraba Neku. Let's do this."

*

Megumi watched with slight amusement at the duel in the player's room. Indeed, Neku's Imagination was powerful, so powerful in fact that it could earn him a place in the Higher Plane. Somehow he doubted he'd accept the position, seeing as how the Angels were not supposed to show themselves in the UG or the RG. If Neku was here, it meant he wanted to become a reaper. Megumi had no complaints about this new turn of events. Neku was a strong individual and could be very effective in dealing with unworthy players. He wondered whether the Composer would accept his instatement into the reaper ranks but brushed the thought away. The Conductor had the authority to allow any player who survived the game to become a reaper. Whether that reaper will remain a reaper is determined by his or her performance in dealing with players.

Seeing that the fight was almost over, Megumi made his way back to the white room. He had a few questions for Neku and was not going to give up until he had the answers. He opened the door just in time to see a stray lightning bolt strike the wall inches from his face. Blinking, he was glad for once that he wore sunglasses and that he was listening to his music at the time. Stray eyes turned to the door while Neku and Arakawa continued to fight. Both were extremely tired and no longer had rejuvenation abilities. Both boys ran at each other and unleashed their psyches at the same time. Unfortunately for Arakawa, his Shockwave skill was outmatched by Neku's Excalibur lightning. They clashed, Neku clipped in the side but scoring a powerful hit into Arakawa's shockwave hand, burning it and cancelling his pin effects.

"And Sakuraba Neku wins this first and final duel for today." Megumi clapped slowly at Neku's victory. "No more now otherwise he'll be erased. Seeing as how strong that boy was, even at his age, we'd lose a fine new reaper." He stopped speaking to look around. The rest of the reaper freshmen were watching him, apparently amazed at his calm over the near death of a new reaper.

"I'll ask you all to leave. You are all officially reaper Support and until the next game on recreational leave. You may enter the RG at will under certain conditions. These conditions will be explained tomorrow. Right now you may not enter the RG, as trans-planar movement is still developing with your wings." Grumbles echoed around the walls of the reverted white room and the freshmen made their way toward the door. "Neku, Arakawa, please remain behind as I have a few words with the both of you."

The door closed after the last man left and Megumi began with Neku.  
"Tell me, why do you want to become a reaper?"  
"Actually, you have no business asking me that, seeing as how I kicked your ass a while ago." Megumi blanched, remembering the battle. His life was shared with Misaki Shiki and she was thrashed by Daisukenojo Bito, not to mention Neku's own abilities giving Megumi a run for his money. Pushing his sunglasses up his nose to better conceal his eyes, which were wide and unseemly for the Conductor, he responded.  
"Aha, but I have become stronger since then." He hoped the bluff would pull through. Megumi knew no matter what that he couldn't beat the boy in another battle. He was spared however because of Neku's current condition.  
"Yeah yeah; not going to try right now, too tired."  
"Yes your battle with Arakawa was impressive to say the least." He turned to said boy, forgetting that Neku had avoided his prior question. "Why would you become a reaper? Especially at such a young age?"  
"'Cause I think that old men like you should let the next generation do things." Megumi's sunglasses slipped down a fraction and he blinked. For once in his life, he was speechless. "You heard me. You guys are old. How long have you even conducted this game? Years?"  
"You realise that years later you will become old as well?" He retorted albeit very weakly.  
"Does it matter? Right now, you guys are sad, giving missions like this one here." He pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and read it out loud. "Befriend the Ramen Don owner and the Lapin Angelique store owner. Time is 600 minutes. Failure will result in immediate dispatch." He looked up at Megumi with sharp eyes and silence ensued for a couple of minutes. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Neku walked slowly toward the door and twisted the handle. He gave a sigh of relief when neither contestants of the staring competition turned. Walking down the dark corridor he shook his head, hearing the door close behind him. Only one thought ran through his mind.

Damn. What would Shiki think when she sees me again?


	2. Chapter 2

Kay: Apologies for the delay. Despite being only two chapters so far (including this one) it's going damn slowly. In retrospect, I should've thought of things before I decide to post them, considering that I suffer from a severe case of writer's block. I have an idea laid out for this story, but it's difficult for me to express effectively (as possible). In anycase, it's been two months or so, and here's a 900 word chapter to get you going some more. About story progress, it won't be a long story, but it would take long to get out, simply because I'm busy with school as well (final year of high school!).

So thanks for reading, reviewing, and returning!

* * *

**Neku's Wings**

Neku stood in front of the mural in the back streets of Udagawa, tracing a finger over the lines of the hooded, skeletal face that oversaw his death so long ago. His wings were folded, seemingly hovering an inch above his back. He turned to his left, where he could still see Joshua running at him with his pistol. At his feet he noticed that there were still specks of red staining the ground.

Blood. My blood.

He let out a sigh. It was in the past. Udagawa would haunt him for the rest of his life, though now it doesn't really matter.

Sakuraba Neku was dead.

At least in the eyes of society. In reality, he was simply a reconstruction of the energy called Soul, into his current appearance and his new wings which were augmented to enable frequency tuning to access both the RG and the UG. Neku didn't want to go back to the RG, not as a reaper; but he knew eventually that he had to. He had to appear before they realised he had gone. Hachiko was the usual meeting place, but would they know that? Neku wondered if any of his friends found out he had died. It was a week since and they'd have heard at least a word of it.

"It is amazing, that one man could have created such a thing."

He turned to face the owner of the voice, Kitaniji Megumi. His sunglasses sat atop his nose, concealing his eyes. His headphones were on, playing music through the silent, back streets. His hands were shoved in his pockets and yet had a professional look about him, the unconditional power and presence of being the Composer's right hand man.

"I love his work, it's damn awesome."

"It truly is an amazing piece of art." Megumi pushed his shades up the bridge of his nose. "Especially the imprinting of the work itself, which I believe you've been subject to." It wasn't a question. He noted the confused look on Neku's face. "The Composer has told me much about you Neku, he fancies you quite a bit."

At this, Neku spun around, a disgusted look on his face that relived all the moments of 'bonding' they shared, that one week which had Neku both curious and disgusted. He thought he was gay, that Joshua, he probably still is though he couldn't know for sure. He had yet to see the composer since his joining in the reaper ranks.

"Don't talk about that, I'm having painful memories already."

Megumi chuckled. He wondered what had happened to Neku since the last time he saw him in the reaper's game. Those three weeks taught his little band of friends what they all lost when they had died. Neku grew the most he thought, remembering the boy who was taught what it meant to have friends. Being defeated by him was crushing, and yet, Megumi felt he had learned something as well. He loved the place called Shibuya, its people and would never give it up in a reaper's lifetime. Neku sat at the steps to the mural, holding his head in his hands.

"You will eventually have to rejoin your friends within the Realground Neku."

"Don't tell me that twice." He snapped. At this he stood and turned, facing the mural. Closing his eyes, he concentrated his power around his wings, and they disappeared.

"Good luck Neku."

***

"_He's going into cardiac arrest!"  
"Hurry! He hasn't got long left!"  
"No! Bring me the defibrillators now!"  
"Clear!"  
"No pulse."  
"Clear!"  
"Still no pulse!"  
"Damnit to hell! Clear!"  
"Give it up! He's gone."  
"Damnit…"  
"Inform his parents. We've done all we can. It's up to the God of this world to help him on his way."_

***

"Where is that Neku?"

Shiki Misaki stood at Hachiko, impatiently tapping her foot. She pushed her glasses up her nose and looked around. The crowd at Hachiko wasn't thinning out at all. She supposed it never did, considering her week playing in the Reaper's game. Those times that she spent with Neku were her favourite. She learned so much about him, and more importantly, about herself. If it wasn't for Neku she thought, she probably wouldn't be alive. She smiled slightly but frowned again.

"That boy said he'd be here in a week after his vacation. Hope he didn't lie to me."

Hearing footsteps stopping behind her, she turned around and saw the orange clump of hair she remembered all too well. She ran up to give him a hug but felt his shoulders stiffen up. Letting go, she looked at him. She thought there was something different about him. A week of vacation would've helped his nerves though. Since the school year was over, all the other students were nuts about the summer vacation time they would have. But Neku told her that he would be taking a week's vacation by himself, never mentioning where he was going.

"Neku, is there something wrong?" She took a step back and examined his posture. His shoulders hunched and his hands were clenched in his pockets.

"Maybe." He looked away. It turned out to be harder than it seemed. "There's not much going on."

"Liar, I can see right through you." She stepped closer to him. "Tell me what's wrong! I thought friends trusted each other!"

"Listen, it's nothing." He turned his head and bit his lip. It was way too hard to tell her now. Even as Shiki was ready to deny it, Neku turned and began to run from Hachiko, eyes beginning to tear. She moved to stop him but saw in a flash of sunlight, a pair of jet black wings.

"That can't be…"

* * *

One more thing. I have no editor for this, nor do i have a team of plot-hole checkers so bear with me. I would smile but it's depressing writing about this. Really.


End file.
